HEALTH
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mental training
Mental Training & Building Focus BY HEALTH & WELLNESS EDITOR MICHELLE MILES
M
y name is Michelle Miles, and I am the Health and Wellness Editor for Lady Shooter Lifestyles. I am a mom of two boys with the third on the way, and a fiancé, sister and daughter to professional sporting clays competitors and coaches in the sport. I also compete and coach clay shooting when I am not on fulltime mom duty raising little humans. I am an experienced yoga instructor and postural alignment specialist who is passionate about all things health and wellness. I own a studio, teach private classes at multiple location, run an alumni program for a spiritual retreat facility and started a Egoscue Training course last month! You know that old saying “practice makes perfect?” I would like to challenge that and replace this idea with something more relatable and realistic. Practice isn’t ever going to make anything perfect. It’s impossible to be “perfect” after all, we are humans. We grow, get better and adapt by making mistakes and gaining experiences. Of course, the more we do something usually the “better” we get at that skill. So how about this for a new belief, PRACTICE MAKES PROGRESS. Progress is something much more attainable in daily life and what I want to walk you through today. The progress we are looking for is the strengthening of mental focus and increased brain function through meditation. Like many of you, I am busy and life can get chaotic. This is why I am so passionate about this topic – how to train the mind to calmly process things and build focus. We will talk about how
LadyShooter LifeStyles
meditation can improve not only everyday life, but your competitive shooting game as well. Meditation has transformed my life, and I want to share some practices that may help make life more focused, peaceful and fulfilling. There are many different meditation techniques and styles. I like to explain meditation as a redirecting of the mind rather than a clearing of. Whether exploring mindfulness meditation, focus meditation, movement meditation, visualization meditation or any other type it’s going to be different each time with its own experience. You will not clear your mind, but will simply achieve a new awareness of something. This could result in easier decision making, feeling calmer and clearer or possessing the ability to be more direct and confident. Whatever method you choose to explore you will feel a difference even after just the first attempt. Common benefits of meditation can be gaining insight, calming of the mind, easing anxiety and stress, enhanced memory and overall better mental clarity due to the brains ability to focus for a longer period of time. Who doesn’t want that for a start?! The coolest thing is it just gets better; the progression doesn’t stop. Many studies on meditation have shown a significant change in the human brain when someone has incorporated it into their daily lives. The neurological pathways that we have paved with unhealthy thoughts can be completely transformed and essentially repaved, changing the way we think and our responses to situations. Instead of a nature of reacting to things,
meditation can help create that pause to process more efficiently and adapt to things calmly. We find that we have the opportunity to choose our response without stress. Our decision making and outcome of tasks can progressively get better over time and become a part of the working mind. We may realize that our feelings are not reality. Did you know meditating can reconstruct the brain after just eight weeks of practice? I guess saying “the mind is a powerful thing” is an understatement! My personal meditation practice has created both a better mental and physical quality of life – including less physical aches and pains. I find myself less annoyed with people, feeling more in the moment vs. overwhelmed and better able to get things done more efficiently. Here are some examples of the kinds of meditation I utilize and some of the benefits of each.
Mindfulness and Guided meditation For me, these are most beneficial when I’m approaching a specific emotional struggle such as anxiety, self-doubt, anger and fear. All these stressors need a certain arrangement of wording to resolve it or a point of focus, such as breath. I may do the same guided meditation for months at a time hearing something different each time I practice. It was explained to me when I’m ready the teacher will appear. Words will vary as perspective changes.
